Feb 18 2015
Entrepreneurs and SMEs – Making the Most of Your Employees’ Individuality When Hiring New Staff
As an entrepreneur or SME owner you’ll want to ensure your business grows quickly, effectively and successfully. Part of this growth can often see the expansion of your enterprises through increased trade, physical expansion of your workplace and the investment in new staff.
That latter of these aspects is arguably one of the most important: your new staff are the future of your company and naturally you’ll want only the best. But how can you be sure whether a) you’ve got a decent candidate, and b) they can offer your business something positive in the long term? This is where you need to turn to the expertise of the staff you already have.
Promoting Positive Values
As a small enterprise you may presently only have a small staff roster, but among them you’ll have a pool of qualifications, skills and abilities that you can proudly demonstrate to prospective applicants as part and parcel of working in your industry. Before you publish any advertisements for new roles, be sure you’ve referenced some of the skills your employees have as this could be appealing to potential candidates who share common interests.
A Thorough Interview Process
Depending on which role you have on offer, a way to help assess and properly consider interviewees is to have one of your existing staff on the panel. Get them to ask challenging questions about their shared specialist area to really put the applicant to the test. This way you can know for certain that this person really knows their field well and isn’t just trying to bluff their way through the interview.
Not only can this be a good way of vetting people, you can get an honest and more reliable opinion post-interview about whether your employee thinks they will be a good acquisition for the future. Equally you can decide whether they have the potential to develop further with extra training and support – which again your current staff can offer advice on.
Added Benefits
Another positive to consider is the effect such actions might have on the morale of your staff. They may feel flattered and proud for you to ask them to do this and be pleased that you acknowledge their hard work and skills, which in turn could see them working even harder and more productively.
So if you want to see your company head in the right direction, look to your current staff and what they have to offer to ensure you find the best fit for your business.